We're entering a busy period in our work as Highways Monitor.
It's our job to monitor Highways England's delivery of the Government’s £15bn Road Investment Strategy – known as 'RIS1' – for England’s Strategic Road Network between 2015 and 2020 – including whether it meets targets focused on the needs of road users and the country as a whole.
Planning for the future
The Government has started planning for the second Road Investment Strategy – 'RIS2', which will run from 2020-2025 by publishing a consultation on Highways England’s Initial Report. The Initial Report sets out Highways England’s assessment of the current state of the Strategic Road Network in England, its potential future needs, and the company's proposed priorities for the next five-year period. In particular, it sets out Highways England’s aims for operations, maintenance, renewals and enhancements in RIS2.
The publication of an Initial Report is one feature of the increased transparency that the five-year RIS cycle brought in – and the responses to this consultation will be an important part of the evidence base for Government to make the decisions on what the next Road Investment Strategy should contain.
ORR’s view
In our consultation response, we recognise Highways England's diagnosis of the needs of its road network and support its focus on maintenance and renewal works. We also support the continued use of designated funds to target specific areas of performance and delivery – and delivering a level of network performance that meets users’ needs.
We think it will be important for RIS2 to incorporate learning from RIS1. That includes making sure that plans for major improvement schemes are better developed, and have a clear understanding of what will be delivered for what cost. We also want to see plans that are built on better evidence of what road users and wider stakeholders want. We recognise the increased focus Highways England has placed on stakeholder engagement to date, and we encourage ongoing engagement as proposals develop. And we want to see plans based on a strong understanding of what’s needed to keep the network in good condition.
We look forward to working with the Department for Transport, Highways England and wider stakeholders as the plans for RIS2 develop.